EMMERDALE SUMMER PREVIEW!

Series producer Iain Macleod lifts the lid on the hot plots due to set our screens alight…

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obert and Aaron will go through hell and back as they fight to save their romance – but a happy ending on the way.

“At the end of this month, there’ll be a big hour-long episode where their relationship is hanging in the balance,” shares Dales boss Iain Macleod. “But will Robert and Aaron still be together in the long term? The answer is yes!

“We’ve not storylined it yet, but we deliberately didn’t make their first wedding ‘official’ because only an idiot would rule out the possibility of having two ‘Robron’ weddings!” he adds. “We’ll definitely be getting an official romantic wedding that is everything people want it to be.”

JUSTICE FOR RHONA

Traumatised Rhona didn’t name Pierce as her rapist when she reported the attack to the police, but she’s set to change her mind.

“Rhona will ultimately go through with the course of action that she started last week, and we’ll follow the story via a legal process,” reveals Iain. “But within all that, Pierce is a controlling and jealous man, and the tragic reality of the situation is that men like him don’t really stop. We feel that we have to show Pierce’s behaviour continuing – but it will be in a slightly different form now. There’ll be a huge peak in the story in late summer.”

LAUREL’S LODGER!

At Mulberry Cottage, Laurel will gain an eccentric housemate in the form of loopy Lydia!

“We want to make sure that Laurel has a full house and the family aren’t just sitting round missing Ashley,” explains Iain. “So we’re putting a new ingredient in there to agitate Laurel and get on her wick, which will be good fun. There’s also another massive story going on with Laurel that will play out over the summer, tied into the resurfacing of the Ashley-emma home video…”

REBECCA MOVES ON

Back with Robert, the selfish bad boy’s fling with Rebecca is definitely over for good.

“Robert and Rebecca are not going to have any kind of romantic future together,” Iain tells us. “Hopefully she’ll redeem herself with the audience in the coming months, and they will come to see that she’s been trampled on by Robert and it’s all a bit tragic. Rebecca is not going to go chasing after him, and he’s not getting back into bed with her!”

HELLO, HANDSOME!

Finally, it sounds as if a new Cain could be heading to the village!

“There’s a big story rooted somewhere in the Dingle family that will require a young, sexy and brooding male lead to appear,” teases Iain. “I can’t say too much more, but it will be kicking off around September time…”